Switzerland suggestions

Five days to spend in Switzerland!?! Wow. I'd spend it in the Lauterbrunnen valley for the scenery, the Alps, hiking, and visiting the Jungfraujoch. But these aren't big cities. Maybe split the time between there and Lausanne. Montreux is a short train ride day trip from Lausanne.
Have fun.

4 days in Geneva out of 5 in Switzerland would be too much time in the big city for most people on this Board. I'd suggest spending more time seeing the mountains in the Lauterbrunnen Valley of the Berner Oberland.

Irene, you could spend 3 days in the Lauterbrunnen valley, you could relax, hike and enjoy the beautiful scenery. And on your way to Geneva, you could spent one night in Montreux, and visit the Château de Chillon, the Lavaux (swiss vineyard). Have a good trip!

I too would suggest time in the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Then, as you depart the area, take the train out to Interlaken Ost train station and catch the Golden Pass scenic train. The Golden Pass goes to Montreux and terminates in Geneva. It takes a bit more time on the rails but its very scenic. You can see more info at http://www.goldenpass.ch/

Thank you very much for your suggestions!

I would also recommend Lauterbrunnen Valley!!! You will not be disappointed. You could stay in Lauterbrunnen, Murren or Wengen.

We stayed in Lauterbrunnen for 6 nights and enjoyed each minute.

I went from Venice to Zermatt in 2007, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's a pain and quite expensive to get there. It was cool to see the Matterhorn, but it wasn't worth the effort and expense. Like everyone else, I recommend the areas above Interlaken. We stayed in Gimmelwald (before we knew of Rick's love of it!), and we would go back in a heartbeat.

Since you said that you like bigger cities, you might consider staying is Lausanne and taking day trips from there.

I also agree with Lauren about Zermatt. I had wanted to see Zermatt on several previous trips, but it never worked out. Finally I got the chance, and I was very unimpressed. After seeing the Lauterbrunnen Valley and surrounding Alpine Villages I expected more of that same type of scenery from Zermatt. Boy, was I wrong.

There is some nice scenery, but Zermatt is all about the glitzy shopping shopping shopping and tourist scene. I was hugely disappointed. And yes, Lauren is correct in saying that it's a pain to get there.